Rock Racing’s solid performances at the Tour of California

Attacking from the start of the 93-mile (150 km) stage, Creed played an instrumental role in a pair of breakaways that stayed clear of the peloton on a rain-soaked, bone-chilling ride from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.

Aggressive to the end, Rock Racing nearly scored its second podium finish of the race when Creed attacked inside the final mile and finished fourth in a five-up sprint in front of the Rose Bowl.

Michael Creed soloed up the first climb to Millcreek Summit, on the way to a fourth place finish.

Michael Creed soloed up the first climb to Millcreek Summit, on the way to a fourth place finish.

“It was the last day and I didn’t want to end the week without having done anything,” Creed said. “At the very end, it was like throwing a ‘Hail Mary’ to try and pull out the win.”

In all, Rock Racing scored seven top 10 finishes during the race, including Mario Cipollini’s third place finish in Sacramento on Stage 2. Even more impressive was the fortitude of Rock Racing in an event that saw only 77 riders of 132 starters finish the 650-mile race.

Mario Cipollini scored his third top 10 finish of the race with 10th place on the final stage.

Rock Racing was one of only three teams — and the only non-ProTour team to complete the race with its full squad. But unlike the CSC and Rabobank squads, Rock Racing began the race with only five riders (instead of eight) after race organizer AEG declared that three of its riders— American Tyler Hamilton, Colombian Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla (below)— would not be able to start.

“This team is a real team”.

“These guys came together in such adverse conditions that just them surviving day-to-day from a mental perspective is something to be commended,” Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said. “This team is a real team. These guys are truly friends who work with each other and who just want to go out there and race and compete. The fact that they didn’t let every member of the team compete here is a tragedy.”

[That’s his opinion anyway, and you’ve got to admit that the man has generated a ton of publicity for his team and his company. Ed]

The cold, wet conditions of the final stage couldn’t keep Mario Cipollini from smiling, or is that grimacing.Victor Hugo Peña was Rock Racing’s best overall finisher.

Rodriguez’s finish was particularly impressive considering he was badly hurt in a crash during the final miles of Saturday’s stage. He needed crutches just to walk from the team car to his bicycle to start Sunday.

“Basically, I could ride a bike, but I couldn’t walk,” Rodriguez said. “As the race went on, things started loosening up and I felt a little better. Then the weather came and I crashed again. I thought that was it at that point. But even though my morale was down, I pressed on and it basically become a battle of survival.”

Martin is our Editor, Web site Designer and Manager, and concentrates on photography. He's been involved in cycling for over 40 years and has raced for many of them, having a varied career which includes time trials, road and track racing, and triathlons. Martin has been the Scottish 25 Mile TT and 100 Mile TT Champion, the British Points Race League Champion on the track, and was a prolific winner of time trials in his day, particularly hilly ones like the Trossachs & the Meldons.

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Here at VeloVeritas, we provide our readers with truthful, accurate, unique and informative articles about the sport we love. We attend many local races as well as work on the professional circuit, from the local "10" mile time trial to the "monuments" - classics like Milan-SanRemo and the Tour of Lombardy, the World Road and Track Championships, the winter Six Days and the Grand Tours; le Tour de France, il Giro d'Italia and la Vuelta a España.